I’m excited to finally say TA-DA and share a special project from last year – packaging and branding for Home Cranked ice cream mix. This is an organic and premium quality ice cream base that you can use to make any flavor imaginable, brought to you by the folks at Naia Gelateria. Just use the plain base to add any ingredient to make crowd pleasing flavors or perhaps a palate-testing flavor for your more adventurous ice cream eating cohorts. Or if you’re in a pinch, chug the plain base straight from the carton to satisfy instant ice cream cravings. Any way you cut it, YOU WIN.

This project was in my wheelhouse for oh so many reasons. First, ice cream. I mean, ICE CREAM. Second, it was a print packaging project which had the fun limitations of being 4 colors and printed with flexography that has certain parameters in which it looks good. The design also needed to accommodate for potential new products. Lastly, I got to work with a crack team.

I was brought in by Owen Jones to help Naia create the Home Cranked brand from scratch. The Bureau created the logo, packaging, illustrations, branding and guidelines while Owen managed the project, implemented the site, marketing, social media strategy, and additional brand efforts. I even got to pull in food writer Jen Stevenson to make a delicious contribution of words that really made the packaging sing. Having worked with both Owen and Naia in the past, it was a trifecta of design positivity and collaboration. Or, as Jen would say: scoop savant, this is your destiny!

Currently Home Cranked is on a test run in Whole Foods Markets in California, but if things go well it could be coming to a store near you. Stay tuned for a more in-depth post on the logo, branding and icon set soon…in the meantime check out Home Cranked online.

People often talk of Scandinavian summers with daylight nearing 20 hours a day, slim blond girls riding bikes everywhere, and public parks blanketed in sun revelers. Not many people talk about the Scandinavian winter. Maybe because they are inside under a blanket eating æbleskiver and pretending the 45 tea lights in the room are an acceptable substitute for sunlight. Nonetheless, the darkness lends a special matte sheen to everything, and the flickering of firelights emitted from every pane gives different sense of community.

Formatted somewhat after the long tapestries and woven rugs that are prevalent in castle museums, here is my tableau of Nordic wintertide.